Gone
by N.U.T.S
Summary: Helga misses Arnold after he moved to live with his parents. Songfic "I Ain't Missing You" by John Waite


A/n: yes I know I should be working on Jungle Fever, but when inspiration strikes you can't ignore it can you?  
  
A/n: this is a one-shot songfic :o my first in fact! Enjoy (at least I hope you will)  
  
Key - ((lyrics))  
  
Disclaimer: I neither own Hey Arnold! or the song "Missing You"  
  
~ Gone ~  
  
(( Every time I think of you, I always catch my breath  
  
And I'm still standing here, and you're miles away  
  
And I'm wonderin' why you left  
  
And there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight ))  
  
Helga was cleaning my room when she stumbled upon a familiar pink book. Worn around the edges from use, it was quite old. She opened it, memories of a green eyed boy flooding her thoughts. "Arnold," Helga muttered under her hitched breath. "Why did you have to leave?"  
  
In truth she knew deep down that Arnold hadn't left to hurt her, only to live with his parents, but she couldn't help the doubtful thoughts that swarmed around her blonde head.  
  
Arnold was no longer living in Hillwood. After discovering his parents at the age of twelve, Arnold had left to live with them, a million miles away in some tropical jungle.  
  
Helga clutched the rosy book to her chest, trying to hold back the tears that thundered through her body and tried to melt her frozen heart. She scoffed at her weakness; she should be used to this by now, he had been gone for three years now.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
((I hear your name in certain circles, and it always makes me smile  
  
I spend my time thinkin' about you, and it's almost driving me wild  
  
And there's a heart that's breaking down this long distance line tonight))  
  
Helga walked down the tired halls of PS 218 (A/n: he high school; I decided elementary school/middle school is all the 100's, high schools 200's, and preschool is 1-99) slipping between the people with a practiced ease. She slowed a bit as she passed what was left of the old gang. They were talking about Arnold. She heard his name being exchanged between Sid and Sheena and smiled at the mention of him.  
  
She was reassured that she wasn't the only one who thought of him, although she doubted anyone missed him with the exuberance that she did. He was in her thoughts morning, day, and night. Haunting her. Driving her nearly to the brink of insanity.  
  
That night when Helga got home, she was listening to some music while painting, when Bob called her down to the phone. She picked it up expecting Phoebe and was surprised when a male voice crackled over the line. "Hey Helga!" a voice she knew all too well, cried.  
  
"Arnold!? What are you doing calling me? Where are you calling from?"  
  
"My mom and dad," Helga noted the joy he put into saying those words, "needed more supplies so we came into town somewhere here in C(te D'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast. It's in Africa). This town had a pay phone so I thought I'd drop a line to the person who helped me find my parents." That's right, Helga helped her love find a way to run from her, so shut up!  
  
They continued talking for at least an hour, all the while her heart shattered a little more.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
((I ain't missing you at all since you've been gone away  
  
I ain't missing you, no matter what I might say))  
  
Helga thought of him again as she started to fall asleep; but refused to admit that she was missing him. Of course not! What was there to miss? A little shrimp who tried to play the saint by helping everyone. She wasn't missing him. Despite what her thoughts said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
((There's a message in the wire, and I'm sending you this signal tonight  
  
You don't know how desperate I've become  
  
And it looks like I'm losing this fight  
  
In your world I have no meaning, though I'm trying hard to understand  
  
And it's my heart that's breaking down this long distance line tonight))  
  
Did he know that Helga had become friends with Victor? She wonder what Arnold would say if he knew that she had become friends with Pigeon Man after his comeback a year after Arnold left. Victor was teaching her morse code, and couldn't wait to try and contact Arnold. Eagerly she learned, gobbling up the information as fast as it was delivered, trying every day to send some signal to Arnold.  
  
He had no IDEA how desperate Helga had become! Unfortunately for her, the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" was true. And if she was bad before he left, she could only shudder at what she had become. And it was a losing battle trying to fight it.  
  
Helga knew that she meant little more to Arnold besides "that girl who helped me find me parents". And she was trying so hard to understand how she could give herself more meaning in Arnold's life.  
  
Arnold's more frequent calls were helping her on her way though, despite the layer her heart lost with each spoken word.  
  
((I ain't missing you at all  
  
Since you've been gone away  
  
I ain't missing you,  
  
No matter what my friends say))  
  
Phoebe knew Helga was suffering in Arnold's absence. She told Gerald to put it in his last letter to Arnold. But she would deny it to her death that she missed ole' Football Head.  
  
((And there's a message that I'm sending out,  
  
Like a telegraph to your soul  
  
And if I can't bridge this distance,  
  
Stop this heartbreak Overload))  
  
Helga tried to send a message to Arnold, hoping he could hear her soul crying out for his touch. But she knew she was far from being gifted in the super natural department. But she was going to hire Curly to help soon, or Rhonda, they were both set in their beliefs of the Third Eye. She was determined to find a way for Arnold to discover my love for him without confessing, but she had to bridge the distance first.  
  
((I ain't missing you,  
  
I ain't missing you,  
  
I can lie to Myself))  
  
Whenever questioned about Arnold being gone, Helga made sure to tell them she didn't miss the little shrimp. She said it so many times that she herself was starting to believe it. Apparently it is true that you can lie to yourself.  
  
((And there's a storm  
  
That's raging through my frozen heart  
  
Tonight))  
  
And all the while, through Arnold leaving, and Arnold befriending her over miles on a phone, Helga's soul weeped, casting a thunderstorm upon her withered frozen heart, chipping away at it's edges.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
THE END! So you like? Reviews are QUITE welcome.  
  
Plot © Copyright 2003 Nothing Up This Sleeve (FanFiction ID: 64624). All rights reserved. Distribution of any kind is prohibited without the written consent of Nothing Up This Sleeve. 


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